Gender and digitalisation – supporting women in agribusiness

Information and communication technologies (ICTs) can be powerful tools to overcome limited access to information, boosting productivity and facilitating outsourcing, resource sharing and networking. But gender disparities in the use of ICTs across value chain prevent many women from achieving their full potential in the agriculture sector.

Globally, the Internet gender gap is about 25% in developing countries overall, but higher in sub-Saharan Africa (40%), according to the International Telecommunication Union. Further, women are 23% less likely than men to own a mobile phone in Africa (IFC, 2016). Such disparities mean that women have more limited access to the mobile phone enabled services that are helping farmers to stay informed, receive financial support and reach higher-value markets.